The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1887-09-25
MAsTODON GIGANrEUs.
A Discovery in the Interest OF
Science Near Philadelphia.

Prof. Angelo Heilprin of the Academy
of Natural Sciences OF Philadelphia
writes to the Public Ledger that mas
todon of ponderous proportions has,
during the present week, been dis
covered in the immediate vicinity OF
Philadelphia. The find is due to the
enthusiasm of two young students OF
geology, J. Colman Saltar, of Pemberton,
and Emlen NJ @ lnnell, of Philadelphia,
through whom Prof. Heilprln was made
acquainted with the facts OF first dis
covery, and on whose representation he
last Thursday visited the locality sup
posed to harbor the skeletal remains.
The giant elephant was found to be
entombed in the bed and bank of
small stream, tributary of the Ran
cocas, which at this spot somewhat
over mile from the railroad statiOn)
cuts through deposit of Ignite clay
and terruginous SAM and gravel to
depth of some three to five feet. The
unusually high water of the stream had
evidently only quite recently exposed so
much of the skeleton as was atsainable
ct the time Of the vista portion of the
upper jaw and the head of one of the
thigh bones-and it was clear from the
manner in which a number of bones
we're found inter associated that the
true resting-place of the animal had
been found.
The bones, which are mainly in good
state of preservation, we're firmly en-
bedded, and not until after having par
italy diverted the course of the stream
was 1t possible to re move them from Il g
enclosing matrix. The head was founu
resting on its top surface, with porto n
of one of the molars of the upper jaw
exposed above the water. Both tusks
had been removed from their sockets,
and likewise one of the anterior molars !;
fortunately, however, the former were
recovered by the two young men above
mentioned in the bed of tn stream, a
short distance below, and, although no
longer perfect, were still sufficient in
themselves to indicate ponderous den
tai armsture. By closely feeling and
grubbing along the bottom of the
stream, other parts of the skeleton,
such as the leg and arm bones, ribs,
etc., were successfully uncovered, and,
| doubtless, further excavations will re-
veal the greater part, if not the whole.
of the skeleton. Through the generos-
| ity of the first finders, Messrs. Saltar
and Mcdonnell, the parts have been 90
mated to the Academy OF Natural
! Sciences, whittier they are now being
removed, and where they will be shortly
| placed on exhibition. No exact
measurements OF the bones have as yet
been made, but they indicate an animal
| apparently eQualiDg If not SURPRISING a
! full-grown elephant in size. The species
is probably MdstOdOn gigGnteus.
The remains OF mastOd rs, writes
| Prof. Heilprin, have been found at var
ious times in the State of New Jersey,
| but it appears that none either so well
preserved or so perfect have been deter
mined since 1916, when, as reported by
Sir Charles Lyell, six skeletons were ex-
humed from drained pond in Warren
| County, in the northwestern part of the
State. Five of them Immediately
crumbled, but the sixth one is stated to
have been presel we'd entire (even to the
retention Of the food constrained in its
stomach } The whereab onts of this
| skeleton, If it at all exists, Prof. He'll
! pTin has been unable to discover. &
nearly perfect skeleton is reported to
have been eXcavated in the line OF the
| MOTIFS Canal, near ScnOOtSy mOuD-
tain, in 1927, and q similar one. which
subsequently became the property of the
New York Lyceum Of Natural History
three years before, in a swamp at Pop
lar, Monmouth County. Fragments OF
teeth and bone have been noted from
several other localities and counties
and it appears that the animal was an
inhabitant of the greater portion OF the
State. The latest important find il this
direction is the mastodOn of Freehold,
Monmouth County, which was dis
covered on June Z, 1882, and fully des
crihed by Mr.. Samuel Lockwood, at the
Montreal meeting of the American As
ISOLATION for the Advancement OF
Science, in August of the same year. Ii
is interesting to note. as bearing upon
the present discovery at Pemberton,
that near the same locality, some twenty
years ago, mastodon Uranium, I'M
known to be such, for several years
served as steppiDg-stone in a swamp.
Rough on Catarrh